Porsche 959: Real or replica ?

[Zap]

I'm visiting my mom in California, and I found this sitting in the driveway across the street.

Why I think it isn't a real 959 is because:
#1 There are no actual exhaust tips in the bodywork holes where the exhaust tips are supposed to be.
#2 I think it is a convertible.

I have a few more pics on my phone, but my phone keeps dropping off the USB connection with my notebook. Also, I've never seen it without the tarp over it.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I'm visiting my mom in California, and I found this sitting in the driveway across the street.

Why I think it isn't a real 959 is because:
#1 There are no actual exhaust tips in the bodywork holes where the exhaust tips are supposed to be.
#2 I think it is a convertible.

I have a few more pics on my phone, but my phone keeps dropping off the USB connection with my notebook. Also, I've never seen it without the tarp over it.

Im not sure, but if it is real and I was the owner, I'd be pissed about the bent bumper on the bottom left side.
Looks like a poorly formed kit to me.
But then again. Ima noob.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

and for refrence, a photo of a real 959 arse end

 

[RichUK]

Im not sure, but if it is real and I was the owner, I'd be pissed about the bent bumper on the bottom left side.
Looks like a poorly formed kit to me.
But then again. Ima noob.

Agreed, it looks like a replica, that rear bumper just doesn't look right. If it is a replica, I wonder what car it is based on - probably an MR2 like the old F355 kits, lol.

 

[ElFenix]

fake

 

[JulesMaximus]

Agreed, it looks like a replica, that rear bumper just doesn't look right. If it is a replica, I wonder what car it is based on - probably an MR2 like the old F355 kits, lol.

Or a regular 911.

Did Porsche even make a 959 convertible?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm visiting my mom in California, and I found this sitting in the driveway across the street.

Why I think it isn't a real 959 is because:
#1 There are no actual exhaust tips in the bodywork holes where the exhaust tips are supposed to be.
#2 I think it is a convertible.

I have a few more pics on my phone, but my phone keeps dropping off the USB connection with my notebook. Also, I've never seen it without the tarp over it.

#3 Nobody would keep a real 959 parked outside under a blue walmart tarp.

 

[Demo24]

I thought there were only like 3 in the states anyway, or has it now become old enough for import? Gates, another msft guy, and Seinfeld had them. Very expensive to buy.

 

[Apex]

I thought there were only like 3 in the states anyway, or has it now become old enough for import? Gates, another msft guy, and Seinfeld had them. Very expensive to buy.

I think there may be another one or two now.

Here's one I saw on my last trip to Napa.

 

[996GT2]

I thought there were only like 3 in the states anyway, or has it now become old enough for import? Gates, another msft guy, and Seinfeld had them. Very expensive to buy.

Unfortunatey, while it was a legendary car in its day and quite ahead of its time, it didn't age nearly as well as the Ferrari F40 (even though the latter is downright primitive in comparison).

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Bruce Canepa has imported and registered several of them, also making performance tweaks to bring the horsepower to something like 500 bhp. His website shows 7 or 8 of them as cars he has sold.

I don't really agree that the 959 has not aged well - I think it still looks awesome as a modernization of the classic 911 shape, and it's still technologically a fairly impressive car, 25 years later. The F40 always was, and remains, more exciting, but the 959 is a beast in its own right.

As for the OP, that is definitely fake - replica 959s (built on 911SC or older chassis) are not all that unusual.

 

[satyajitmenon]

Hmm. All this 959 talk reminded me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHJ3fSaSBfE

 

[alfa147x]

God that thing is sexy

edit: The second one

 

[JMapleton]

I vote replica. Like a Thai crossdresser, something just doesn't look right.

 

[halik]

I'm visiting my mom in California, and I found this sitting in the driveway across the street.

Why I think it isn't a real 959 is because:
#1 There are no actual exhaust tips in the bodywork holes where the exhaust tips are supposed to be.
#2 I think it is a convertible.

I have a few more pics on my phone, but my phone keeps dropping off the USB connection with my notebook. Also, I've never seen it without the tarp over it.

US plate cut out ain't happening...

 

[SearchMaster]

Heh - it's one thing to drive a replica but to do the personalized plate thing - SMH.

 

[GoatMonkey]

This many years later and the 959 can still hang with some of the modern Porsches. It was really incredible back in its day.

 

[Zenmervolt]

US plate cut out ain't happening...

This. There are other things to tip one off, but that's the immediate give-away.

ZV

 

[hanoverphist]

I vote replica. Like a Thai crossdresser, something just doesn't look right.

haha that is in my list of descriptives now, thanks!

 

[punjabiplaya]

fake, but Apex's looks like a real one

 

[alkemyst]

All I know it there is a 959 in Palm Beach where I worked for an Ambassador. The guy I think owns a sports team.

No one is going to cover a real 959 with a blue tarp outside though...seriously.

 

[Zap]

#3 Nobody would keep a real 959 parked outside under a blue walmart tarp.

Very good point.

Or a regular 911.

This is my guess. Seems like a rear engine, but a quick glance underneath still can't find the exhaust. Wikipedia says "Due to the scarcity and price of existing genuine 959s, several companies have offered body kits over the years for Porsche owners to apply to their own cars, mainly the 911 model."

I thought there were only like 3 in the states anyway, or has it now become old enough for import? Gates, another msft guy, and Seinfeld had them. Very expensive to buy.

Paul Allen was the original third owner in the States. These cars are now legal (under a 1999 law?) as long as they pass emissions testing for their model year. Again, from Wikipedia:

These cars had not been approved by regulators and had no Department of Transportation‎ and Environmental Protection Agency‎ approval. The "Gates 959" was stored for 13 years by the Customs Service at the Port of Seattle, until regulations were changed to allow "Autos of Interest" to be imported with severe limitations on their use. Gates and Allen both helped pass the "Show and Display" law.

Show and Display "how to"

I vote replica. Like a Thai crossdresser, something just doesn't look right.

:sneaky: :awe:

This many years later and the 959 can still hang with some of the modern Porsches. It was really incredible back in its day.

Yeah it was. I think only the most recent gen 911 Turbo with AWD and Tiptronic can completely beat it in pretty much everything.

US plate cut out ain't happening...

:thumbsup: Thanks. Unless more information is forthcoming, I'll call this definitive.